Price is per 15-inch strand of these unusual frame beads - about 18 frames to the strand. Each measures a large 23mm x 3mm, drilled as in picture (see thread). So called "Frames" because they look like the frame of spectacles! Though mother of pearl is quite widespread around the world, its assumption of the aspect of a magnificent branch of the arts after a past of many centuries began when it came into the hands of the Ottoman Turks. (nā“ker) or nacre , the iridescent substance that forms the lining of the shells of fresh-water and some salt-water mollusks. Like the pearl it is a secretion of the mantle, composed of alternate layers of calcium carbonate and conchiolin. Among the chief sources are the pearl oyster, found in warm and tropical seas.
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